TPT upload, Bully Prevention signs, and a name change?

Wow, I had a busy day and got a lot of school work done today. I finally created my first PowerPoint to go with my Forensic Science notes. If I wasn't such a perfectionist it wouldn't take me so long! I'm finally done though and it turned out great! I uploaded it to my TeachersPayTeachers store too [link]. I have no idea if anyone will purchase this stuff, but you never know :) Here's a look at the PowerPoint title slide and slide sorter.

I also downloaded a whole bunch of free borders from other teachers' TPT stores. I used some to make these super cute signs for our Bully Prevention Bulletin Board. I can't wait to laminate them and hang them up :) Here's a link to where I found them. Or if you'd like me to send you the signs I made, just leave a comment with your email addy.

Lastly, I've been pondering changing the name of my blog. Since I am no longer teaching just Biology, I seem to be blogging about a lot of other stuff. I can't think of a creative name I love though. At first I thought I'd play on the phrase 'Loving Life' but since I teach life science it would be "Loving Life Science" but I'm not sure people would get it. I don't know. I may go with it, but I am still brainstorming too. Ideas anyone?

Goodbye, Summer.

Wow, can you believe school starts so soon?!?! I go back on Monday, and have some teacher friends who are back already. Summer flew by!

I am spending today doing last minute prep work for my new Forensic Science class.

Last night I finished my Forensic Science Dictionary (since my students don't have a textbook to look up vocabulary words) and vocab lists for each chapter. I also made little introduction activities to go with each vocab list to either assess student prior knowledge, or start introducing content in a fun way. I hope my students like it! Anyways, I did post it all on TPT as a bundle for anyone else teaching Forensic Science this year. Check it out here.

 

In other, not so exciting news, I found out how I will be spending my Christmas break... having surgery! :( I have a terrible time standing on the hard floors at work and over the years developed plantar fasciitis, which turned into heel spurs. They of course get worse each year and when I went back to the podiatrist last week for X-rays, he said my only treatment option left is surgery. I can only do one foot at a time (I have heel spurs in both) so that means another surgery down the road too. Anyways, I am nervous for it, but dreading having sore feet until then. The doctor wanted to do it sooner, but I did not want to miss that much work. Putting it off until Christmas break means I will have more time to recoup and will not have to be on crutches so long once I go back to work. I know, none of this sounds fun! Anyways, here is a pic to show what is going on with my feet.

 

 

Well, I hope everyone starts off the year with a bang! Bring on the caffeine!

Busy week and TPT Post

It has been such a busy week! I went to school and set up my classroom, volunteered at the zoo, posted more items on TPT, and am now heading out of town for the weekend.

My classroom set up went pretty well. Tons of boxes arrived from Ward's Science. Thanks to my $3000 grant and lab free money, I was able to purchase a lot of supplies for my new forensics class. Here I am excited to be unpacking one of the skulls with the Sherlock Bones lab kit

I also hung up my new banner on the window to my office. I thought it was very visible there so the students would see it as they come in my classroom.

Here is my office full of new labs, and my classroom mostly put back together.

As I mentioned, I have also been busy on TPT. I am so grateful to have sold a few of my lessons so far, to help pay for all the school supply shopping I did earlier this month!

Here is one of my new TPT lesson, basically my Chapter 1 Intro to Biology materials (notes, PowerPoint, worksheets, test, etc.)

I put a lot of time into making fun PowerPoints for my students and I get a lot of compliments on them from other staff. Here is the PPT that I uploaded with this bundle.

It is a big goal but I hope to upload all of my Biology materials throughout the year. I kept the Chapter 1 title on most of these, since all life science classes start out pretty much the same, but I will have to use a content title instead of chapter numbers for all of the other lessons I upload.

Well, I hope everyone is having fun setting up their classrooms and preparing for back to school! I better start getting ready so I am not late to the Lake County Captains baseball game tonight. It is Go Green and Irish heritage night, two of my favorite things. I can't wait!!

Science quote and TPT share

I found a science quote online tonight that I really like...

Also, posted some new FREE files to TeachersPayTeachers and wanted to share. They are hall passes for the upcoming year. Check them out at my TPT Store.

 

 

 I'm heading to school tomorrow for the first time all summer! I have a lot of boxes to unpack and a generous friend of mine offered to come help so that makes me super happy! I hope we can get a lot unpacked and set up! I will let you know how it goes :)

Just saw another good quote so I am editing and adding :)

Addicted to online back-to-school shopping

It happens each summer, as school approaches I start looking for deals online. This summer is no exception. I have been buying so many fun things for school...

1- A banner for my Forensic Science Class

 



I just love the website http://www.shindigz.com/. Every once in a while they send out a great offer for cheap banners. This is the third one I've ordered from the website and got it for less than $10. It is 18" x 54" (really big) and great quality! I plan to hang it over my doorway on lab days to get the kids excited, and tell my other students not to mess with the lab set-up. With my grant money not only did I buy lab kits, but I also got an inflatable 'dead body', fake blood, bullet hole decals, etc. so I can make the room look like a real crime scene! I can't wait. I will for sure post photos when the first lab arrives!

2- "toys" for my study hall students.

I'm having study hall in my room this year. Usually it is in the cafeteria and students can be spread out so they can't talk or goof off. This year study hall is during lunch so the cafeteria isn't available and I  have to have it in my room. It is hard to get kids to study for a whole hour and not talk, especially when they claim "I have nothing to do". So rather than arguing, I decided to make a bin of little knick-knacks to keep kids busy (and still quiet) when they run out of work. Some of the items I purchased are:

• Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty from Amazon.com - love this stuff but kind of expensive. These two change color which add an extra element of fun.

• Puzzle Balls from Oriental Trading Company - not exactly sure how these work but they got great reviews

• Water Games from Old Navy - these totally remind me of the 80s; I used to love them. Hopefully the kids will too! (these aren't the exact ones I bought but you get the gist)

If you can think of any other little toys the kids can play with alone and quietly to add to my study hall bucket, let me know :)

3- Growing Sea Life Characters

I thought I could use these is an osmosis lab. Last year I used gummy bears, which work great and swell up huge, but kids felt like eating them. This solves that problem. They were a great price at Oriental Trading and should hopefully work well!

4- Pencil Sharpeners

Also from Oriental Trading. I got a great deal on these, $6.25 for 72 of them!

5- Design It Yourself Frogs from Oriental Trading

I love these. They come in white, and kids can decorate them however they want. I always have a 'fun day' on Earth Day and the students love these. Last year I ran out so I used Oriental Trading's Free Shipping time to stock up :)


I also gave in and bought 2 cases of caffeine water from Amazon.com. I am so used to staying up super late (3:30am) all summer, my body is going to hate me when I have to start waking up at 4:45am again for school. Yikes! I am not ready. Needless to say, I will need this stuff! I bought 2 different types this time, my usual Avitae and another brand to try something new.

The shopping didn't stop there, I have a whole box of various supplies I picked up at a lot of different stores. I am not made of money, but I just can't resist this time of year. I just love school shopping!

Ok, well I need to get ready because I am going camping in a little bit. I can't wait! Have a great weekend!

Forensic Science!

As I mentioned before, I'm teaching Forensic Science this year. I have spent all of July reading, researching, and planning my curriculum. For the past 2 weeks, I have been working day and night on my lecture notes for the semester and as of 3am this morning I finally finished!!

I am very proud of my hard work and how great they turned out. I think students will have fun and learn a lot!

I have posted the notes as a big bundle on TeachersPayTeachers. Check them out here.

 



Summer vacation, Lots of pics, and News that I received a grant!

I am loving summer! Just got back from a great trip with my family. They wanted to go to the Outer Banks but they know I love zoos, so as a compromise we stopped at a zoo on the way there and the way back. Both were amazing. I have a goal to visit a zoo in every state, and thanks to this trip I can now say I have been to 14 zoos in 9 states! Here's how I keep track :)

We stopped at Metro Richmond Zoo in VA on the way to NC. It was not at all what I expected, but better! Privately owned and definitely unique. They let you feed any hooved animal in the park, have an awesome sky ride, and a super cool giraffe interaction area. I loved getting to pet, feed, and even kiss the giraffes!

On the way home from NC, we stopped at the Pittsburgh Zoo in PA. I have been there before, but during construction, so I wanted to see it again. Seeing the sea turtles was probably my favorite, but I was also mega excited to get to take my picture with an elephant! I just love hands-on, up close opportunities!

 

The Outer Banks was a lot of fun. I enjoyed spending so much time with my niece and nephew! Some highlights were...

Having a sea turtle lay a nest right by our beach house the 2nd day we were there! We got to see the tracks, nest, volunteers dig up 1 egg to DNA test, then rope the area off. Pretty cool! Wish I could go back when it hatches!

 

 

 

 

 

My dad and I also went kayaking. We went on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge hoping to see alligators in the wild. Turns out we saw barely any wildlife. I was very disappointed and complaining when we got back to the car... Mother Nature must have heard my disappointment just then because a black bear crossed right in front of the car! It was so awesome and exciting!!

 

On another day, we went to the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. It was a cute little aquarium. They had a Sea Turtle Rescue Simulation my niece just loved. They even lend you cute little lab coats to wear :)

Another activity we did was a guided tour to see the wild horses. Not exactly what I expected either, but neat.

We did go to the beach too. I enjoyed taking walks at night and seeing all the crabs everywhere. I also saw my first ever washed up jellyfish! As a bio teacher I loved this. I brought back a lot of nature souvenirs- shells, mermaid purses, part of a horseshoe crab, and even whelk egg case (not pictured). Can't wait to show them to my students next year!!

Well, those are the highlights from my trip! Now it is back to reality for me. I have one more month of summer left and A LOT of planning still to do. I so far have only completed 2 chapters of notes for my forensic science class! I really need to kick it into high gear! I did get great news though, which I now realize I forgot to post on here. I received a $3000 grant to buy lab materials for my new forensic science class! I ordered so many lab kits, I think the kids will have a blast!!!

I did also go school supply shopping yesterday. You know you are a teacher when you go through the checkout line with 15 boxes of markers, 5 calculators, boxes of pens, pencils, highlighters, etc. I hate spending my own money, but I feel like I have to. I'm still looking for colored staples though, can't remember where I bought them last year but they made me happy and are worth the extra change :)

Ok well, hope your summer is going well! School will be back in session before we know it! Take care.